Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: Temple Beth David Officials Speak on Cell Tower Project

Officials of Temple Beth David have responded to residents' concerns regarding the construction of a cell tower in the area.

Letter to the Editor and the Town of Westwood community:

We are writing to update you on the status of and to clarify what you may have read in local papers or on-line. SBA Towers II, LLC and Omnipoint Communications, Inc. filed an application with the Westwood Planning Board to construct a flagpole style cell tower on Temple Beth David property. Temple Beth David leased a portion of its land to SBA for this purpose.  

We would like to provide some background information regarding the Town’s bylaws. In 1998, in response to the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Town of Westwood created a to specify parcels where cell tower antennae would be acceptable.  

These sites include certain town owned properties, some commercial/industrial properties, and specific properties owned by non-profit religious entities. Without the WCOD zone, cellular companies could seek permits to put up antennae wherever they desired. With the WCOD zone, the Town limited the available sites and met the requirements of the federal law.  

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By enacting this rule, the Town also made the public policy choice to direct these wireless facilities and the passive revenue derived from them to properties owned by the Town and by religious non-profits.  

The Town, the Dedham-Westwood Water District and the First Baptist Church (adjacent to Westwood Nursery School) have all installed cell towers on their property. An antenna is located at Morrison Field, several are on the Fox Hill Street water tower, and one is on top of the .  

The Temple’s leadership took many steps prior to entering the lease agreement with SBA. We extensively researched the Town’s bylaws and spoke with the Town Administrator and lay leaders of The First Baptist Church. There was much discussion at board meetings, informational meetings and two congregation-wide votes.

In advance of the Planning Board Hearing Notice, the Temple reached out to our neighbors and invited all abutters (by mail) within the standard 300-foot radius of the Temple property to a meeting with Temple leadership and SBA to learn more about the project. Several abutters attended our meeting and some called the Temple in the subsequent days. SBA and the Temple leadership addressed their concerns.

Subsequently, the Planning Board sent notice of a Public Hearing on the application to the abutters within a 300-foot radius of the Temple, as required by law. Prior to the hearing, a group of neighbors organized and decided oppose the application. At their request, Amy Cook, Temple President, and Matt Watsky, Immediate Past President, met with them in February and again in March to hear and respond to their concerns, in addition to meeting with them and others again during the balloon test, conducted on March 13.

The neighbors’ group expressed concerns about the aesthetics of the cell tower and fears of health risks and impact on property values. We answered specific questions and referred other questions to the applicant, SBA, at the continued Planning Board Hearing. The group asked that we share their concerns with the Temple Board.  We did so via phone calls, at an Executive Board meeting on March 3 and at the Board meeting on March 17.
 
More recently, leaders of the neighbors’ group have indicated in an email addressed to “Fellow Citizens” that moving the cell tower to Town-owned land would be acceptable to them, as the Town would then receive the revenue instead of the Temple.
 
In our agreement with SBA, the Temple negotiated the specifications of the physical cell tower and equipment enclosure to the highest practicable standard. The tower is a flagpole style monopole, 36 inches in diameter and just less than 100 feet tall, to have a smooth, painted white surface with all antennae to be fully enclosed inside of the pole. The equipment enclosure will be surrounded by a screening fence that matches the architect-designed screen already located in the rear of the Temple and on the Temple roof. The area around the fence will be appropriately landscaped.

The two current tenants on the pole will not require a generator. SBA has assured the Planning Board and the Temple that the structure will emit no noise in its usual operation. If Verizon were to co-locate on the pole, they would require a generator for use only during power black outs. The generator would be contained in a sound proof enclosure and would meet any specifications set by the Westwood Planning Board.

Neighbors have made references to the smaller diameter poles on Morrison Field and at the First Baptist Church. It is our understanding that the current antennae equipment requires this larger size pole. When leases for each of the older sites are renegotiated, the carriers will require new monopoles like the one proposed at Temple Beth David.  

A health expert submitted a report to the Planning Board and made a presentation at the start of the hearing. The expert’s report noted that the radio frequency (RF) transmissions at the tower, even if one were standing at the boundary of the screening fence, would be less than 1/1000 of the permitted exposure according to the FCC. He explained the nature of the emissions and that they dissipate quickly over short distances. He also noted that anyone using or in the presence of cell phones, wireless laptop computers and baby monitors is exposed to far higher emissions. The Temple defers specific questions regarding emissions and health issues to the expert’s report.

Some have questioned the Temple’s motives in this process. Our motives are identical to the Town of Westwood, the Dedham-Westwood Water District and The First Baptist Church, which is to lease space to SBA to receive rent. The Town, by a 2/3 vote at the 1998 Town Meeting, chose to permit cellular communications facilities at all of the religious nonprofit properties in town for this very purpose – to direct passive income to them. The lay leaders of The First Baptist Church have expressed to us how grateful they are for the revenue generated by the lease of land for a cell tower. Similarly, in these difficult economic times, the Temple would like to receive this additional income to help pay its increasing operating expenses.

Temple Beth David has been an active member of the Westwood community for decades. We have listened and tried to respond to our neighbor’s concerns.   

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Finally, we believe the place to debate the merit of whether the cell tower complies with the Town’s rules is before the Planning Board.

On behalf of Temple Beth David,

Amy Cook, President
Matt Watsky, Immediate Past President


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